After many years of economic expansion, Higher Education is looked as the main vehicle for social mobility.
Students wanted to study, but most couldn’t afford it and banks wouldn't loan them money!
Goverment tells the banks: "I'll be the guarantor of each student loan"
Logically, Banks started loaning the money, and more people accessed Higher Education Institutions
As enrollment soared, so did frustration. Students argued that tuition was too expensive and that quality did not always match the cost.
Massive nationwide protests followed—calling for better oversight, fairer funding, and the idea that access to Higher Education should be a social right, not a financial burden.
These demonstrations reshaped the national conversation and pushed the government to rethink its role in student financing.
By the mid-2010s, more than a million students had used CAE loans—making it one of the largest public-backed credit programs in Chile’s history.
The government began purchasing CAE portfolios from banks, reducing interest rates, and expanding tuition-free policies for low- and middle-income families.
Students: "I'd prefer be indebted with the State than with the Bank"
As CAE grew in size and cost, it became one of the most debated policies in Chile—shaping elections, reforms, and the future of student financing.
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